


Allies

by Tishina



Series: Dangerous Kisses [5]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 11:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15411651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tishina/pseuds/Tishina
Summary: Lana Beniko was pragmatic and dedicated to the Empire, so when circumstances forced her to work with a notorious Republic crime lord, she was prepared for almost anything...except what she got.This was written in response to a prompt for Lana and 'Noka working together the first time, and one of the few things I've written for them that wasn't post Yavin IV.





	Allies

* * *

Lana wasn’t quite certain what she had expected. She'd been surprised enough when she first discovered that the SIS agent’s choice of field operative was a notorious underworld figure. Worse to discover that this was someone the Empire accused of a long list of crimes. The most serious charge was the assassination of the Voidwolf, though he was reliably rumored to have targeted this woman personally in his _own_ campaign to bring the underworld under his direct control. _So perhaps more self-defense than politically motivated murder, if true._ If it benefited the Empire, Lana had been prepared to extend the woman the benefit of the doubt, and clearly the woman was quite _capable_.

But whatever she’d expected, it hadn’t included a tall, muscular Mirialan woman past her mid-30s with an impish grin and warm amber eyes. Eyes that invited everyone to share in her laughter. Lana was also well aware of the woman’s reputation for leaving a lover or three on every planet she’d visited---a list that rumor said even included a recently freed Imperial agent.

Not that the Sith had particularly credited the tall tales told to raucous laughter among enlisted Imperial troops in barracks and in rough bars. But from her successful reputation on both counts, Lana would have pictured an elegant, sophisticated woman, someone who breathed seduction. Cold, calculating eyes. Someone who wielded sex as a weapon.

But this...this was a woman who looked as if she hoisted cargo around with the ease of a powerful Force user. A woman who drew every eye, not for her beauty---though she _was_ compelling in a way Lana couldn’t explain---but for her brash, fearless confidence? A woman who took up space and demanded notice as confidently as any Sith lord, but also someone who laughed heartily and without any self-consciousness at all. Someone whose nails were clean and neatly trimmed, but with bloody knuckles and a beautiful black eye developing.

And perhaps she had been a Sith too long, but Lana had been left almost wordless when ‘Noka’s first words to her in person were _flirtatious_. A non-Force-user and common criminal, someone whose actions suggested a powerful, if casual, loyalty to the Republic, flirting with a _Sith_ on first sight? _Madness!_

 _Still, I think I recovered well. I just wish I knew what it was about her that was so...compelling._ She sighed mentally, controlling her expressions to polite friendliness as she tried to focus on her datapad, all too conscious of the Mirialan now swaggering in her direction. _Though...she swaggers nicely, admit it. And is very attractive in a way a fellow Sith or most other Imperials could never be. Foolishness, of course. This is an alliance of convenience, and when we’ve dealt with this situation, well, we_ are _on opposite sides._

‘Noka leaned casually against the table next to Lana, arms and booted feet crossed. Then she wiggled her eyebrows comically. “So, Lana, right? You, me, go have a drink and leave spy boy there to sort things out with Jakarro and Deefour? I mean, before you head back to whatever it is Sith do when you aren’t rescuing beautiful women from a painful crushing death?” She sighed longingly, feigning a melodramatic swoon complete with the back of her hand to her forehead. _An effect spoiled by that mischievous grin. Ass. And she revels in it._

“A drink?” Lana couldn’t suppress a brief bark of laughter at the sheer silliness of the smuggler and her smug confidence in her own attractiveness. _The ruler of the Underworld is...a good-natured clown?_ Lana wondered if the Mirialan was simply a superb actor, but nothing about her body language or even a brief read through the Force suggested that the woman was anything but sincere. _But from what I sensed, she is far, far more complicated than this facade suggests. And dammit, that just makes her that much more intriguing._

“Well, I owe you at least that much for saving our necks. Or, well, what’s left of Deefour’s neck. Smugglers pay their debts. Unless they like bounties on their heads.” She shrugged, but there was a warmth in the woman's gaze that suggested there was more to the invitation than simply gratitude.

“Are you in the habit of inviting Sith you just met out for a drink?” Lana tried to school her expression to look appropriately forbidding, but amber eyes simply twinkled back at her.

“Well, I can’t say I have, but I also can’t say I’ve met many Sith who didn’t try to kill me before I could introduce myself. In fact, you might just be the first, Lana.” _Of course, that humor doesn’t even try to hide the obvious. The_ Sith _didn’t survive those encounters. Fascinating that she’d emphasize that at this particular moment._

“In that case, I’m even more curious as to why you’d want to have a drink with a Sith.” Lana tried, and failed, to keep her lips from twitching in laughter.

‘Noka’s eyes lit up in an instant. “If I didn’t enjoy danger, do you think I’d be here right now instead of Port Nowhere, raking in profits? I mean, what could be more dangerous than a beautiful Sith lord? Maybe I want to know what makes a Sith tick that she _doesn’t_ instantly throw something at me.”

“You know, I think you’re more than a little insane.” Lana tried her best to scowl, but the gleam in the smuggler’s eyes told her that her performance wasn’t fooling her at all.

“I let Theron talk me into helping him. I think insanity goes without saying. I mean...you’ve met him, right?” She pulled an antiseptic packet out of her pouch, finally releasing Lana from the fascination of those laughing amber eyes and began clumsily cleaning up her bloody knuckles. “Of course, I _am_ a bit of a mess right now, but surely a Sith isn’t squeamish at the sight of a little blood.”

Lana watched for a moment, then huffed in annoyance, taking the antiseptic cloth from the woman’s hands. “Here, let me. You’re just smearing it around.” She tried not to notice the feel of the calluses and scars as she worked, or the smirk that appeared on the smuggler’s face. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” _Hmm, the tall tales don’t nearly capture just how good she is at reading and manipulating people. She already knew I can’t stand incompetence and used that._

“Who me?” The Mirialan affected shocked innocence. “Now, why ever would I want the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in months to choose to touch me, hmm?”

That was the second time she’d called Lana beautiful, and this time, Lana felt her cheeks heat. And knew from twitch in the fingers she held that ‘Noka hadn’t missed that response. “You’re impossible. And I fell for this, didn’t I? I should leave you to make a mess of this yourself, you know.”

“Hey, we’re allies now, right? So, about that drink, or is having fun and laughing against the Sith Code? I thought only Jedi had a stick up their asses about living a little.” _Smug, but there’s still something so appealing to the way she’s trying to tease_ me.  _I can't remember the last person who dared._

Lana met her eyes, more than a little surprised by the open friendliness of that gaze. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

“Life’s too short for regrets. Better to grab the gundark by the ears with both hands and hold on for the ride.” Lana disposed of the antiseptic wipe and firmly took the kolto bandages out of ‘Noka’s hands. “So, is that a yes?”

Lana kept her eyes firmly fixed on the bruised knuckles, hoping her blush wasn’t as bad as she thought. “As you said, we’re allies for now. So...yes.”

**Author's Note:**

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